Massivemuse

Affirmation: A Warp Trio/Palaver Strings Massivemuse

Powder House Square, Somerville

Fri, November 5, 2021 6:30 PM, EDT

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: Bring proof of COVID vaccination
: COVID testing not required
: This is an indoor event
: Masks are required for the entire groupmuse
: Social distancing is required
: Greeter will confirm safety precautions
: If you feel sick, stay home
: Don't bring your own drinks
: Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for sale
: All guests must be 21
Wheelchair access: Wheelchair Accessible
: Kid-friendly event

This is a Groupmuse Massivemuse

Epic performances in unexpected spaces.

Hosts

Groupmuse Superhost

Palaver S. Superhost

Palaver Strings joins forces with the genre-defying chamber ensemble Warp Trio to present Affirmation. This program centers music and stories that have been suppressed or misrepresented in mainstream media narratives.

At the heart of the project is Affirmation, a new concerto grosso for piano trio, percussion, electronics, and strings. Written by Warp Trio’s own Josh Henderson, this piece is inspired by Assata Shakur’s poetry, which, in Henderson’s words, “encapsulates the experiences of Black trauma, chaos, loss, and joy while maintaining a commitment to Black life and living.” Shakur’s writing, the campaign of fear coordinated against her, and her arrest and escape, all find potent echoes in our current political climate.

Our program also features Kareem Roustom’s Dabke for String Orchestra, Florence Price’s Five Folk Songs in Counterpoint, and Akenya Seymour’s Fear the Lamb, which addresses the life and death of Emmett Till in three vivid movements. In this age of unprecedented access to truth and misinformation, Affirmation reflects on the struggle for representation, in the concert hall and the world at large.

This project is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and a Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation.